VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

Share this - save our environment and save ourselves Pristine waterfall is treated as a bathroom

There is no doubt that a vibrant filming industry not only generates welcome revenue but - if  the context of the film is right - it shows the city in favourable light making it an attractive destination. For example "Lord of the rings" NEW ZEALAND, "Game of thrones" CROATIA  or "When Harry met Sejal" in PRAGUE, AMSTERDAM,  VIENNA to name a few. Switzerland has got a thriving filming industry popularizing it's towns such as ENGELBERG. However in every such place the rules for shooting films are well defined and stringent. Especially rules against polluting the locations. In the India this is not the case. When travelling in Aru Valley Kashmir in 2015 we saw thousands of Styrofoam plates strewn in green grasslands by a film crew shooting a Hindi film. Closer to home in Anjoda on the outskirts of Araku, after every shoot, the beautiful wooded forests are full of plastic packets, plates and plastic cups. Outdoor film shoots are a mess. In Vizag...

A few days ago I had written about the need to have a clear policy on waterfalls management. Please see the message that follows. I realise that for many this sounds like a far-fetched idea. "What impact could a waterfall in the Eastern ghats miles away from us have on us?" we may ask. We may feel that it is just an intellectual exercise with no real value. The fact is that it DOES IMPACT US in more ways than one but I will leave that to another occasion to expand. Coincidentally I visited several water flow sites in the hills some with waterfalls and others with water flowing over rocks. It was shocking to see that all these sites were filthy and in a few years will become unbearable to visit. The tourism department's objective is to show that they have developed a new tourist spot. They do not give a damn about how these spots can be maintained. A simple argument they have is "anyway visitors are coming here, all we are doing is making steps so...

Despite being among the first to enter the Smart City race Vizag is one of the lowest spenders so far. Talk and action are miles apart. To read more, catch up the below link on business world Smart Cities: The Sad State Of Affairs

A 3 minute YouTube of our Heritage Walk in Old Vizag on 18th April 2017, World Heritage Day. Please watch the video and do take a moment to comment and share.  Please click on the KEEP READING  link below and then on the video to see the movie

World Heritage Day – a call to save our past Appeared in the Times of India on  17 April 2017 World Heritage Day - 18 April Tomorrow, 18th April is World Heritage Day. In 1982, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) based in France, announced 18 April as the "World Heritage Day", approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983, with the aim of enhancing awareness of the importance of the cultural heritage of humankind, and redouble efforts to protect and conserve our heritage.  In 2017, the theme is  “Cultural Heritage & Sustainable Tourism” , chosen in relation to the United Nations International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. What is heritage? What is Heritage in the first place? An explanation from the INTACH book titled “INTACH Jago” goes like this: “Heritage refers to something inhe...

Say goodbye to our beaches Appeared in Times of India Vizag Edition on 03 April 2017 Vizag is a coastal city and the best part of living in a place like this is access to our beautiful beaches. We take for granted our right to walk on to the beach sand and wade in the waters of the Bay of Bengal. Do we need permission to visit the beach? Do we have to buy a ticket to enjoy the sea? Obviously not! That is because the sea is our common property and a public place that we can visit any time we want to. But is this going to change soon? Old timers will recollect the beaches of old Vizag with nostalgia. Most of the Vizagites lived in the “Old Town” near Visakhapatnam Port Trust channel. Families lived within a few hundred yards of the beach, and children played on the beach and swam in the sea whenever they could. Hundreds of fishing boats lined the beach and fishermen went fishing every day to bring in a bounty of fish that they sold at the beach or in the markets making a decent l...

Intergalactic space travel and idlies 20th March Times of India Waltair Musings !GQK comes visiting The other day I met my old friend !GQK from the galaxy next door.  He took the wormhole express from planet Gliese 581g and appeared in my guest room quite suddenly. He was tired.  He switched on his universal translator and lamented “I traveled economy class; the universal cash crunch is hitting all us researchers”. After he had got over his space-lag and got used to our local gravity we went down to that vegetarian restaurant on VIP Road. He has been visiting officially once every 10 Earth Years and the first thing he does is enjoy some idly with several chutneys and sambar. Over breakfast we discussed the purpose of his visit this time. Research “I am here to study Vizag’s driving habits” he explained. “We at The Galactic Institute have watched the huge increase in vehicular traffic in Vizag and my boss wanted me to verify the reports that we have ...

Cars that shaped character - Times of India My article Cars that shaped character Times of India  5 March 2017   H e loved to bring home neglected old beauties. He kept his eyes out for these abandoned ladies. They could be found in unused sheds or under a large tree. They sat on stones, disheveled and covered with bird droppings. They had not been washed for several years but one look at them and you would know that they were beauties in their younger days. Their smooth flowing voluptuous lines, their proud stance, their demeanor all screamed out to those who cared. “Take me home honey, look after me”, they seemed to say, “Fix me up and take me for a spin … and I will show you my true colours.”  He could see beyond the tired façade and knew that there was a seductive promise here. He had to own her! My late father loved old cars. Citroen, my childhood sweet heart Sometime in 1961 he purchased a 1947 model Citroen in Calcutta and drove it home. She wa...

Vizag’s hidden history Sohan Hatangadi Times of India Vizag Edition  21 February 2016 People fascinated by Indian history are familiar with historical facts of several old towns and cities such as Varanasi, Hyderabad, Chennai or Mumbai. While most old Indian cities and towns have interesting past our own Vizag has a secret history that has escaped some of us residing here all our lives. We pass by structures surrounded by buildings as we rush about our work scarcely throwing a glance at those forgotten spots that have played a significant part in Vizag’s past. Tourist brochures convey a simplistic view of Vizag’s history describing it as a “sleepy fishing village” that over time transformed into today’s bustling city. Somehow we visualise a bunch of fisher folk sleeping all day. In fact Vizag has been an important town for many centuries and has witnessed the ebb and tide of rulers, armies, cultures and outstanding men of vision - who slept very little. What’s ...

Growing up with Vizag My article in the Times of India, Vizag Edition, 12 February 2017 S ome children grow up too soon. One day they are crawling then learning to walk, and then they are running, knocking things down, falling, hurting themselves, getting up, playing, laughing and then surprisingly disagreeing with us. Before we realise they have become young adults with minds of their own. To parents and grandparents this is a mix of pure joy, concern, alarm, annoyance, frustration and pride in equal measure, sometimes all together. Before long they are going to school, college and taking up a job. They get married and move on. Soon they become adults in their own right and we can scarcely recognise them. But this article is not about children. This is about our city, our Vizag. Infant years For those who have seen Vizag grow up we can appreciate the stages it has gone through. We have the memories from our childhood of Vizag’s infancy. We remember the narrow...